CPOV- Critical Point Of View : WikiWars

Call for Participation:Conference and Reader

CPOV(Critical Point of View) Context: The Wikipedia has emerged as the defacto global reference of dynamic knowledge. Different stakeholders –Wikipedians, users, academics, researchers, gurus of Web 2.0, publishing housesand governments have entered into fierce debates and discussions about what therise of Wikipedia and Wiki cultures means and how they influence theinformation societies we live in. The Wikipedia itself has been at the centreof much controversy, pivoted around questions of accuracy, anonymity,vandalism, expertise and authority.

The Centre for Internet and Society (Bangalore, India) andthe Institute of Network Cultures (Amsterdam, Netherlands) are working togetherto produce a critical Reader on Wikipedia and to build a Wikipedia KnowledgeNetwork. Under the rubric CPOV, we propose two events that bring togetherdifferent perspectives, approaches, experiences and stories that criticallyexplore different questions and concerns around Wikipedia. The proceeds fromthese two events will result in a Reader that consolidates critical points ofview about Wikipedia.

WikiWarsConference: Thefirst conference to be held in Bangalore, called WikiWars, invitesparticipation from users, scholars, academics, practitioners, artists and othercultural workers, to share their experiences, ideas, experiments, innovations,applications and stories about Wikipedia. The WikiWars conference embodies thespirit that guides an open encyclopaedia like the Wikipedia, by referring tothe edit battles that users enter into over topics that have many points ofview. WikiWars also refers to the contradictory positions adopted by differentstakeholders on the various issues of credibility, authority, verifiability andtruth-telling, on the Wikipedia. This conference calls for diverse and variedknowledges to come together in a critical dialogic space that informs andaugments our understanding of the Wikipedia.

ConferenceThemes: Thepossible themes and areas for presentations (projects, experiences,experiments, stories or documentation) can include but are not limited to:

• Wiki Theory: Endorse, question/contest or delineate the theoretical approaches and view points on the Wikipedia
• Wikipedia and Critique of Western Knowledge Production: The predominance of textual or linguistic cultures, post-western knowledge production systems, and indigenous knowledge systems
• Wiki Art: Art that uses Wikipedia models, structures or data to explore and expand the practice of Wikipedia project; and accounts that document Wikipedia based art practices or debates
• Designing Debate: Suggestions, innovations, critiques and ideas that focus on the design and form of the Wikipedia, to explore the claims of neutrality, objectivity, emergent hierarchy, control and authenticity on the Wikipedia
• Critique of Free and Open: Areas like Wikipedia governance, economic practices of and around Wikipedia, and the nature of freedom in usage, production and participation on the Wikipedia
• Global Politics of Exclusion: Exploring questions of non-western material inclusion, language, connectedness, oral histories, women, non-geeks, and alternative material that cannot be documented on Wikipedia etc.
• The Place of Resistance: Space of resistance and dissent in the Wikipedia, structures that allow for alternative voices, experiences and ideas
• Wikipedia and Education: Wikipedia usage in classrooms as a teaching resource, and its effect on pedagogy, the role of Wikipedia in the knowledge production sector, and mobilisation of academic communities around the Wikipedia

For detailedinformation on each theme, please go to http://cis-india.org/publications/workshops/conference-blogs/Wikiwars

WhoShould Apply: The conference in Bangalore aims to bring together aninteresting mix of diverse voices from different cultures, geo-politicalspaces, and context-based practices from around the world, to startconsolidating the approaches, experiences, and impact of the Wikipedia:

1. Students and Wikipedia users who belong to different local chapters or have editorial/contribution experiences on the Wikipedia,
2. Academics and publishers who are exploring the changes caused by Wikipedia, both in classroom pedagogy and in knowledge production systems,
3. Researchers and theoreticians, practitioners and proponents, artists and social activists, who are interested in Wikipedia cultures and their socio-political conditions, should be attending this conference.

How ToApply: To apply for the conference, please send the followinginformation by email to infowiki@cis-india.orgby the 15th of October, 2009. 1. A note of interest (450 – 700 words)detailing your ideas and possible contribution 2. Your updated resume 3. Asample of your work (term papers, published articles, peer-reviewed papers,books, art-projects, social intervention projects etc.)

Conference time-line:

Announcement of short-listed proposals – 21^st October, 2009.

Sharing of Detailed Proposals with allparticipants – 15^thDecember, 2009

Announcement of Conference Schedule and Logistics – 30^th December 2009

Online Registration for non-presenting participants–  3^rd January 2010

Conference Dates – 12^th, 13^th January2010

Travelsupport: Travel support is available for some of the conferenceparticipants (national and international). The selected participants will beprovided with the basic travel and accommodation costs for the duration of theconference from their home-countries/cities to travel to Bangalore for theconference. If you are applying for travel support, please indicate clearly inyour “Note of Interest” any of these three options: 1. Full travel supportrequired. 2. Partial travel support required with estimate. 3. Travel supportnot required. Travel support will be provided by the conference organisers on acase-by-case basis.

ConferenceOrganisers: Sunil Abraham (Sunil@cis-india.org)and Nishant Shah (Nishant@cis-india.org), Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore. If there are any queriesregarding the WikiWars conference please write to us.

Researchand Editorial Team: Geert Lovink and Sabine Niederer (Amsterdam),Nathaniel Tkacz (Melbourne), Johanna Niesyto (Siegen), Sunil Abraham andNishant Shah (Bangalore).